7 ms·

"It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can rea

by ratpik 12y ago

"It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make some headway into it." That is very good advice. You could replace teacher with your corporate manager and science with society and it becomes relevant to everyone working on a normal corporate job or a start-up.

thret 12y ago
Adding to or improving upon the sum of human knowledge, what is more important? "Dark pictures, thrones, the stones that pilgrims kiss, poems that take a thousand years to die but ape the immortality of this red label on a little butterfly." -- Vladimir Nabokov
- krsree 12y ago
  Wow! Subliminal eternal poem indeed!
- e12e 12y ago
  I wonder if the original uses a word closer to "mark" than "label"? As it stands, it kind of reminds me more of the end of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)" by Dick -- where Deckard finds what he thinks is a wild animal, only to turn it over and discover it's branded and is an artefact after all...
  - JackFr 12y ago
    I think that is the original.
    - e12e 12y ago
      Isn't the original in Russian? [edit: Apparently not, I wasn't aware Nabokov wrote English as well as Russian. Some relevant links: "On Discovering A Butterfly" by Vladimir Nabokov May 15, 1943: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1943/05/15/1943_05_15_026_TNY_CARDS_000193605 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1943/05/15/1943_05_15_026_T... [ edit3: sadly behind a paywall ] A (somewhat inaccurate, but interesting) commentary: http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.no/2004/04/on-discovering-butterfly-vladimir.html http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.no/2004/04/on-discovering... edit2: Almost forgot: clearly the original uses "label" intentionally. Funny how the verse in isolation seems to more directly reference nature (along the lines of Blake's Tyger! Tyger! -- while clearly that's not the (main/only) intended reading. ]
- marincounty 12y ago
  All his books--including Lolita--should be required reading in high school and college. His writing just flows. I remember a college professor who wanted his class to read Lolita, but was told if he wanted to reach ten year--he would be wise to just let it go. Maybe things have changed? After college, I don't think I would have ever picked up another book of fiction, until I discovered Vladimir Nabokov.
wslh 12y ago
In a similar way, look at what Leonard Adleman (A in RSA, DNA computing, integer number factoring, etc) says in this interview (skip the chinese paragraphs): http://teacher.scu.edu.cn/ftp_teacher0/chjtang/teach/adleman.htm http://teacher.scu.edu.cn/ftp_teacher0/chjtang/teach/adleman... NW = The interviewer LA = Leonard Adleman """ NW: They say the most creative and challenging part of research is finding the right question to ask. Do you agree with that? LA: I wouldn't characterize it as the most challenging thing, but it's of critical importance. Sometimes it's not hard to find the "right question'. For example the mathematics literature is full of very important unanswered questions. In this case, the real issue is: Has that question's time come? Have we reached a point where developments in the appropriate area of science give us some chance of breaking the problem? For example, I worked on a famous centuries old math problem called "Fermat's Last Theorem". I was not 'strong' enough to solve it, but I find some solace in the fact that my intuition that its 'time had come' was right. The problem was finally solved two years ago by Andrew Wiles of Princeton. It was one of the major events in the history of mathematics. The other side is to generate new questions. That's a funny process. The way I seek to generate new questions is to start to look at whole new fields, like biology, immunology or physics. Since I come from a different field, mathematics, I bring an unusual point-of-view that sometimes allows me to generate questions different from the classical questions in those areas. Like the question of DNA computing. For the young scientist, this question of choosing the right question to spend your valuable limited intellectual resources on is critical. I often sit for months and do no productive work that anybody can see, because I don't feel I have a good enough question to work on. Rather than take on some lesser question, I would prefer to read a mystery novel. The point is, sometimes it's important to lie fallow for a time waiting for the 'right question' to appear, rather than to engage in uninspiring work and miss the important opportunity when in comes. But in the end, the real challenge of science is to make progress - to succeed, to contribute knowledge. NW: Of course, in an academic setting, there's that drive to publish or perish... LA: Yes, that's a problem, because you have to feed your family. But I always tell my students and junior faculty that they are better off following their inspiration and their hearts in what research they do, that they should always try to take on the most interesting and important problems, that they should not waste their time on little problems just to make another line on a vitae. My philosophy is that it's important, in a curious way, for scientists to be courageous. Not physically courageous, but courageous in an intellectual way. I believe that by working on extremely hard problems, by being courageous, you may succeed. But even if you fail, you fail gloriously. And you will have learned immense amounts, you will have extended the envelope of what you can do. As a byproduct of failing on a great problem, I have always found that I could solve some lesser but still interesting problems - which then fill your vitae. """

by ratpik 12y ago

thret 12y ago

Adding to or improving upon the sum of human knowledge, what is more important? "Dark pictures, thrones, the stones that pilgrims kiss, poems that take a thousand years to die but ape the immortality of this red label on a little butterfly." -- Vladimir Nabokov

krsree 12y ago
Wow! Subliminal eternal poem indeed!
e12e 12y ago
I wonder if the original uses a word closer to "mark" than "label"? As it stands, it kind of reminds me more of the end of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)" by Dick -- where Deckard finds what he thinks is a wild animal, only to turn it over and discover it's branded and is an artefact after all...
- JackFr 12y ago
  I think that is the original.
  - e12e 12y ago
    Isn't the original in Russian? [edit: Apparently not, I wasn't aware Nabokov wrote English as well as Russian. Some relevant links: "On Discovering A Butterfly" by Vladimir Nabokov May 15, 1943: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1943/05/15/1943_05_15_026_TNY_CARDS_000193605 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1943/05/15/1943_05_15_026_T... [ edit3: sadly behind a paywall ] A (somewhat inaccurate, but interesting) commentary: http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.no/2004/04/on-discovering-butterfly-vladimir.html http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.no/2004/04/on-discovering... edit2: Almost forgot: clearly the original uses "label" intentionally. Funny how the verse in isolation seems to more directly reference nature (along the lines of Blake's Tyger! Tyger! -- while clearly that's not the (main/only) intended reading. ]
marincounty 12y ago
All his books--including Lolita--should be required reading in high school and college. His writing just flows. I remember a college professor who wanted his class to read Lolita, but was told if he wanted to reach ten year--he would be wise to just let it go. Maybe things have changed? After college, I don't think I would have ever picked up another book of fiction, until I discovered Vladimir Nabokov.

wslh 12y ago

In a similar way, look at what Leonard Adleman (A in RSA, DNA computing, integer number factoring, etc) says in this interview (skip the chinese paragraphs): http://teacher.scu.edu.cn/ftp_teacher0/chjtang/teach/adleman.htm http://teacher.scu.edu.cn/ftp_teacher0/chjtang/teach/adleman... NW = The interviewer LA = Leonard Adleman """ NW: They say the most creative and challenging part of research is finding the right question to ask. Do you agree with that? LA: I wouldn't characterize it as the most challenging thing, but it's of critical importance. Sometimes it's not hard to find the "right question'. For example the mathematics literature is full of very important unanswered questions. In this case, the real issue is: Has that question's time come? Have we reached a point where developments in the appropriate area of science give us some chance of breaking the problem? For example, I worked on a famous centuries old math problem called "Fermat's Last Theorem". I was not 'strong' enough to solve it, but I find some solace in the fact that my intuition that its 'time had come' was right. The problem was finally solved two years ago by Andrew Wiles of Princeton. It was one of the major events in the history of mathematics. The other side is to generate new questions. That's a funny process. The way I seek to generate new questions is to start to look at whole new fields, like biology, immunology or physics. Since I come from a different field, mathematics, I bring an unusual point-of-view that sometimes allows me to generate questions different from the classical questions in those areas. Like the question of DNA computing. For the young scientist, this question of choosing the right question to spend your valuable limited intellectual resources on is critical. I often sit for months and do no productive work that anybody can see, because I don't feel I have a good enough question to work on. Rather than take on some lesser question, I would prefer to read a mystery novel. The point is, sometimes it's important to lie fallow for a time waiting for the 'right question' to appear, rather than to engage in uninspiring work and miss the important opportunity when in comes. But in the end, the real challenge of science is to make progress - to succeed, to contribute knowledge. NW: Of course, in an academic setting, there's that drive to publish or perish... LA: Yes, that's a problem, because you have to feed your family. But I always tell my students and junior faculty that they are better off following their inspiration and their hearts in what research they do, that they should always try to take on the most interesting and important problems, that they should not waste their time on little problems just to make another line on a vitae. My philosophy is that it's important, in a curious way, for scientists to be courageous. Not physically courageous, but courageous in an intellectual way. I believe that by working on extremely hard problems, by being courageous, you may succeed. But even if you fail, you fail gloriously. And you will have learned immense amounts, you will have extended the envelope of what you can do. As a byproduct of failing on a great problem, I have always found that I could solve some lesser but still interesting problems - which then fill your vitae. """